University of Florida recently issued the following announcement.
In processing their two-point loss Sunday to Maryland, the Florida Gators could have bemoaned a handful of things. Two missed front-end free-throw situations were costly. So were a couple missed bunnies. There was a needless technical foul for taunting. Shooting worse from inside the 3-point line than beyond it, a rarity for this bunch, jumped off of the stat sheet, as well.
Each had a hand in the Terrapins' 70-68 win in the Hall of Fame Invitational at Barclays Center, but in the end, what it really came down to was failing to get a stop when the Gators, who pride themselves on their defense, needed one.
Junior forward Donta Scott took advantage of a mismatch against UF senior guard Myreon Jones in the post to toss in an off-balance, awkward-angle bank shot to break a tie game with 16 seconds left. At UF's end, fifth-year senior point guard Tyree Appleby, whose 3-point shooting second-half shooting spree was the only reason his team was in the game, bounced his attempt a game-winner as time expired, handing the Gators (7-3) a third loss in four games.
Scott was the late-game hero, but it was the backcourt of senior Eric Ayala and grad-transfer Fatts Russell who put the Terrapins (6-4) in position to snap a three-game losing streak and hand interim coach Danny Manning a win in his second game since Mark Turgeon stunned the program Dec. 3 by resigning eight games into his 11th season. Ayala and Russell scored 19 points each, combined to hit 13 of their 24 field-goal attempts, belied their season's struggled from the 3-point line by making six of eight from deep, and also went 6-for-8 from the free-throw line.
"We weren't sharp enough defensively to guard a high-level backcourt like that the way they were playing," UF coach Mike White said. "They were incredibly efficient — 19 points a piece — on a low level of shots. Our pressure overall did a good job on [UM] collectively, but I thought those guards handled it."
And handled the Gators.
Ayala came into the game shooting just 33.3 percent from the floor and 29.0 from 3-point range. He went six of 11 and three of five, respectively. Russell was at 36.6 for the season and not just 26.6 percent from the arc for the season — but 28.8 percent for his 128-game career. Russell was 7-for-13 from the floor and perfect on all three of his 3s.
They just so happened to heat up at Florida's expense, but it's not like the Gators weren't warned.
"Our coaches did a great job of telling us we had to make these guys bounce it, despite their percentages," said UF graduate guard Phlandrous Fleming Jr., whose 15 points and 11 rebounds gave the Charleston Southern transfer his first double-double in a Florida uniform. "As individual players, these guys are really good and we didn't do a good job in [running them off the line]. We gave them open looks and they can make those. It wasn't a surprise because we harped on it in the scout." UM making eight of its 13 long balls, including four of five in the second, was certainly a big factor in the outcome, as well as the momentum from the partisan Maryland crowd. But the plays that most impacted the game — the loudest ones — came closer to the basket.
Russell's 3-pointer with 6:26 to go gave the Terps a seven-point lead, the largest of the game for either team, at 59-52, and would be the last field goal they hit from outside five feet. Appleby, who scored all 15 of his points in the second half, bombed in back-to-back 3-pointers to draw the Gators within one.
Maryland scored the next two baskets, both by Ayala on driving layups, with the second drawing a fourth foul on 6-foot-11 forward Colin Castleton (9 points, 10 rebounds), with his old-fashion three-point play pushing the margin back to six.
But back came the Gators, with Fleming fouled on a 3-point attempt and making two of three free throws, then forward Anthony Duruji converting a reverse layup, with a foul, and free throw. UM's lead was 64-63 with 2:40 to go.
When Appleby pulled up and dropped a 3 in transition with 1:11 left, the Gators had their first lead, 66-65, since early in the second half.
"Tyree was electric down the stretch," White said. "He made some huge individual plays and played with a lot of heart defensively, as he always does." But just 13 seconds later, the 5-11 Russell saw an open lane in the UF defense, drove down the right side of the lane and threw a banker in over Castleton, drew contact, and fouled out the Gators' best low-post defender. Russell hit the ensuing free throw to put UM back up, 68-66, giving Maryland four "and-one" conversions for the game. Apparently, UM's scouting report said the Gators liked to bite on head fakes.
"Whether it was a miscommunication or lack of communication on a switch, we had a couple guard-to-guard issues into a default switch there," White said of the defensive breakdowns deep in the paint. "Lack of wall-ups. Leaving our feet that led to fouls, of course. Or simply Ayala and Russell just making big-time plays."
Duruji's driving layup with 42 seconds left tied the game and set up the decisive possession, which Maryland got to play with Castleton disqualified and on the bench. It ended with the 6-8 Scott matched in the post against the 6-3 Jones, who did a terrific job in making Scott attempt a tough 2-pointer.
Scott's went in, while Appleby's 3-point attempt as time expired did not.
UF shot just 37.9 percent for the game, but had a season-high 11 makes from the 3-point line on the way to shooting nearly 42 percent out there. Pretty good, considering the Gators came in at 29.7 percent on the season and a woeful 14 of 71 the last three games (19.7 percent).
Against Maryland, UF shot worse inside the paint (35.5 percent) than outside. Go figure.
The Terps, on the other hand, were good at both. That will sting a Gators squad that wants to hang its hat on the defensive end.
"I thought we played valiantly down the stretch. Our guys continued to fight and make some plays. We made some really big individually offensive plays to make it interesting," said White, whose team led for just 6:46 of the game. "But collectively, we've got to be more disciplined. That's on me. I have to find a way to get us to execute better offensively and defensively."
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